#I recently downloaded bumble and it occurred to me that I would never tell a man on there I was a berserk fan

[white-winter-hymnals]

average straight male berserk fan: watery lukewarm takes, no sense of nuance, patrick bateman vibes

average woman or gay berserk fan: phd-level insights, thinks about the characters from a dozen different angles, beautiful rays of sunshine despite the series’ dark subject matter

#I recently downloaded bumble and it occurred to me that I would never tell a man on there I was a berserk fan #the DMs would be a nightmare #I guess the red flags would have to come out sooner or later tho….right? #I won’t elaborate on this except that the berserk reddit is a deeply scary place #anyway #berserk #mine #my post

[deckmaniacs]

A Magic Journey - Discovery

By Lee White

Magic The Gathering is a game that has been on my radar for a long time, everything about it screamed that it would be something I would be interested in. I'm a married father of four currently studying to become a primary school teacher with interests in a whole host of geeky interest ranging from comic books to collectibles. Up until recently I hadn't ventured into the world of gaming but as I previously mentioned I was very aware of Magic. The gorgeous artwork on the cards and the idea of fighting fantasy battles was to much for me to resist and I began to delve into this magical world.

In my youth I had collected Pokemon cards but had never had an interest in playing the game, but this was most definitely not the case with magic. I began looking online for a gateway into the realm of Magic and I won't lie, I felt overwhelmed. A game with such history and from an outsider extremely complexed rules I hadn't a clue where to begin. With four young children and a list of other hobbies I found myself asking “Do I really have time to not only start learning about this game but playing it as well?” I decided to walk away from the game. But I just couldn't get away, I found myself imagining battles of monsters, magic and mystical beasts and decided I would have to find the time.

My first introduction into the game was by watching videos on YouTube and trying to grasp the concept of the game. I quickly manage to get my head around the basic and decided to leave the more complicated rules once I had mastered the basics. The next step I took was downloading the app on my tablet and began battling and building a deck.

I found myself drawn to green and white cards, I wish I could tell you a particular tactical reason for this but it was purely for the fact I liked the look of the cards! Now this may well come back to bite me once I start to play against real competitors but for the use of the app it seemed to work fairly well. 

At this point there was no turning back I found myself playing every chance I got, in bed, on lunch break and on the bus. I literally couldn't get enough. I found myself still bumbling my way to victory as there were times I was trying to perform some type of action and it wouldn't allow me and I have no clue as too why! I decided that the obvious next step would be to actually buy myself some physical cards and I got myself an old Deck Builder set (at this point I wasn't aware that there were so many different editions) and found myself mesmerised by the depth of choice of characters and creatures. Using the the inserts I attempted to play out a few games against myself but found this extremely confusing and over complicated so I just stuck to building decks and trying to get my head around what makes a good deck. As I thumbed through the cards trying to make the best choices possible (again favouring green and white cards) I found a large part of my childhood returning to me the feeling of excited from opening a pack of Pokemon cards or football stickers with such excited to see what I had got.

I found myself playing every chance I got, in bed, on lunch break and on the bus. I literally couldn't get enough.

At this point I am still yet to ever play Magic the Gathering against another human being, for three main reasons, the first my wife doesn't enjoy playing games with me, the second I don't actually know anyone who plays magic ( or I didn't until very recently) and third is the fear of my lack of knowledge of the game. 

After browsing some of the forums I have discovered how deep the knowledge goes and the planning and intense tactics and combinations that are used in the game and as a complete noob I'm nowhere near that level and don't want to annoy a more experienced player with my inexperience. I have recently discovered a close friend of mine actually plays Magic but the subject somehow had just never occurred so I am currently in the midst of planning to play against him, and I also intend to take the the plunge and attend a Friday Night Magic evening at my local game shop. 

As I learn more about this incredible game that so many of us love I will share my opinions and views on what the game is like for a new comer!

#magic the gathering #beginner